By Steve D. Stones
This Kino Video DVD
collection of 10 short silent era Christmas holiday films is an interesting
treat, considering that most of the films are over 100 years old. The films
really communicate a sense of what life was like at the beginning of the 20th century
in the early days of the age of automobiles and the airplane. The collection of
films dates from 1901 to 1925.
On this DVD set is included
the nine films – A Holiday Pageant At Home (1901), A Winter Straw Ride (1906),
A Trap For Santa (1909), A Christmas Accident (1912), The Adventure of The
Wrong Santa Claus – An Adventure of Octavius, Amateur Detective (1914), Santa
Claus vs. Cupid (1915), Santa Claus (1925), A Christmas Carol (1910) and The
Night Before Christmas (1905). Most of the films run less than 20 minutes long.
A Winter Straw Ride (1906). A group of young, playful girls climbs
on board a horse sleigh for a casual ride through the snow. The girls are happy
and giddy, even when they encounter a group of young boys who throw snowballs
at them as they pass on a road. The sleigh eventually gets stuck in the snow
and overturns, dumping all the girls out into the deep snow. The girls attack a
middle-aged man and smear snow in his face. Running through the snow, the girls
throw snowballs at each other. Everyone appears to be having lots of fun in
this short film. You'll be reminded of those winter days of the past playing
out in the snow with your childhood friends when you see this film.
On Christmas Eve, the
children set a trap for Santa by placing a tight wire wrapped around a chair next
to the Christmas tree that leads to their bedroom. Their depressed father
climbs through a window to get into the house. The mother suggests that he
dress up as Santa and give the children gifts that she has purchased from her
estate inheritance. Dressed as Santa, the father distributes the gifts to the
children, and the whole family is happy for Christmas.
The Adventure of The Wrong Santa Claus (An Adventure of Octavius – Amateur Detective) (1914). A man named Octavius receives an
invitation to play Santa Claus in the Randall family home in Oakville. He packs
a Santa suit in a suitcase and travels to the Randall home. After having dinner
with the Randall family, Octavius goes upstairs to get into his Santa suit.
While putting on the suit, a burglar enters the Randall home, knocks out
Octavius unconscious and locks him in a bedroom. The burglar puts on a
different Santa suit and goes downstairs to steal gifts from under the
Christmas tree. Mrs. Randall finds Octavius knocked out in the locked bedroom. Octavius
chases the burglar down the street as they are both still dressed as Santa.
After chasing the burglar on board a moving train, Octavius is finally able to
confront the burglar at a street corner news stand and have him arrested. The
Randall family gets their basket of gifts back for Christmas. Octavius falls in
love with the oldest daughter of the Randall family.
Santa Claus (1925). I consider this film to be the best in
the entire set. It is also the longest film – running at 28 minutes. The
opening title tells the viewer that this is a fantasy filmed in Northern
Alaska. Children sleeping in their beds on Christmas Eve awaken to sneak
downstairs to the home Christmas tree to wait for the arrival of Santa. They
want to ask Santa what he does when it's not Christmas.
When Santa arrives, the
children sit on his knees and he tells them that he lives in the Land of Winter
near the Polar Sea. He tells them his home is guarded by goblins of the deep,
which are sea lions. A polar bear patrols the land and sometimes Layluk, the
northern wind, comes howling from ice caves to Santa's ice castle. On nights
like these, Santa hurries back to his ice castle to help his elves and gnomes
work on Christmas toys. He also tells the children that he cares for reindeer
during the entire year. He even occasionally drinks reindeer milk.
Once a year, Santa meets with
the Easter bunny to tell him which girls and boys deserve the prettiest Easter
baskets at Easter. He watches children all over the world in his giant
telescope. He also keeps a record book of all children to record their
behaviors and what gifts they want at Christmas.
Santa also meets with Jack
Frost, who he considers to be the greatest artist in the world. Here we see a
man dressed in a white snow suit with a magic wand with a star wave his wand
across snow to create beautiful ice crystals.
The scenes of Santa's workshop and all
the toys being made are some of the most amazing scenes in the film. Santa
meeting with Eskimos before Christmas, and entering their homes on Christmas
Eve to bring toys for Eskimo children are also some of the interesting
highlights of this film. Santa's sleigh even overturns in the deep snow,
showing the viewer some of his challenges of getting toys to children on
Christmas. Santa loves his job so much that he overcomes these challenges.
This Holiday Season, consider viewing some silent era holiday films that take you back to the early days of the 20th century. These films may not be big-budget, Hollywood-produced films with famous directors and great cinematography, but they capture an interesting moment in time that communicates what Christmas time was like over 100 years ago. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
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